


Growing Together

by AbelQuartz



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Universe, Crying, Gen, Growing Pains, Hugs, Medical, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Slice of Life, Steven Universe Future, Talking, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:29:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23312407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbelQuartz/pseuds/AbelQuartz
Summary: While Greg and Steven are talking together during the ending events of “Growing Pains,” Connie and Priyanka Maheswaran have to have a conversation of their own.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran & Priyanka Maheswaran, Connie Maheswaran & Steven Universe, Priyanka Maheswaran & Steven Universe
Comments: 13
Kudos: 196





	Growing Together

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to @nerdyjello on Tumblr for the request* for this cute little work! Enjoy the mother/daughter interaction.

“What do you need to tell me, Connie?”

Here it was. Connie crossed her arms and inhaled sharply through her teeth. Clearly, then, this was something either embarrassing or emotionally difficult. Based on how the past hour or so had gone, Priyanka was of the mind that it was both.

They sat in the doctor’s office, her cubicle isolated from the medical spaces. On her computer screen, a spinning 3D graphic showed the time and date, reflecting back and forth across the black monitor. Connie sat in a folding chair across from her mother’s work station. The cubicle wasn’t small, but it was cramped enough area to feel the pressure of each other’s presence. 

Priyanka sighed and crossed her fingers together. She was very tired. Steven must have been tired. Connie looked like she was so wired she was about to burst. The examination had gone on longer than she had anticipated, but they didn’t need to run any more tests. Blood samples and the like were out of the question. Curiosity had to be pushed to the curb here. Right now, Priyanka watched her daughter and wondered what the truth of it all was.

“He asked me to marry him,” Connie mumbled, “so we could live as Stevonnie.”

Medically, Dr. Maheswaran didn’t understand a thing about fusion or how it worked, but up to this point she had accepted Stevonnie for who they were, whatever that meant. The marriage of Ruby and Sapphire had made sense from a Gem perspective for her. This information made her grip the sides of her chair and stare at her daughter in disbelief.

“You told him no, of course.”

“Oh, no! I’m barely sixteen! I-I’m not ready to get married at all!”

“I know! I know.”

Connie was level-headed. Priyanka had the sneaking suspicion that, if the girl had put more free time into her schedule, she would be dating Steven on a romantic basis regardless. Frankly it seemed as though they had been at that point for the past couple of years, ever since they went to space together. What a trip. Priyanka has a sinking feeling in her stomach, but she had to push it aside for the moment.

“Why would he ask for you to marry him? He knows how busy you are with school — and he’s young, too! I — Well, I understand he’s troubled, but…”

“He’s not —!”

Connie almost shouted, but stopped herself. Priyanka was taken aback for a moment. She listened to her daughter fuming in her chair before the girl gripped her knees and stared at the carpet. Slowly, her face sunk into resignment.

“I don’t think he knows what marriage is,” Connie murmured. “He just thinks it’s spending the rest of your life with someone. He doesn’t understand the legal side, or the maturity side, or when people get married. I think all the weddings he’s seen have been in books and on television. Nobody in his life… Greg’s not married. Ruby and Sapphire were already together and permanently fused when they got married. He’s just…”

There was a human side to this whole thing that wasn’t being acknowledged, Priyanka knew. Steven had consumed his fair share of media, but one also needed people in one’s life, social adjustment. Steven had only been to school once and hadn’t seemed to have understood the ins and outs. He was a smart boy, but lacked in social knowledge. He didn’t know how to be human in the same way as other people. And there was nothing wrong with that. Priyanka mentally slapped her wrist. This was no time for ableism. 

“I understand. If it was anyone but you, I’d think it would almost be cute.”

There, some reaction. Connie didn’t smile, but she grimaced and blushed, looking up at her mother from her seat. Priyanka smiled back softly before she folded her hands in her lap. The woman cleared her throat.

“Connie, I understand that you’ve been around Steven for quite a few years now.”

“Yes?...”

“And you’ve been on missions with him, and you’ve experienced some of the things he’s experienced,” she continued, “and you’ve always been excited about telling us. I think that’s wonderful.”

Connie gripped the hem of her shorts. It had to be asked. The girl turned her eyes away again.

“But if there’s been anything you’ve seen, anything you’ve experienced that you feel has caused you any degree of pain, I’m here to help you through it. Your father and I want you to be safe, and, well, you’ve seen the damage that can be done.”

“Mom, I-I…”

“It doesn’t have to be now. But I want you to know that I love you. And I’m here for you, and for Steven. The two of you have been through a lot.”

When Connie talked about her adventures over the dinner table, Priyanka had had to keep her face as neutral as possible. She couldn’t begin to express the worry that she felt for her daughter on these missions. Even with the Crystal Gems around, there was so much that could go wrong, and seeing Steven in this state, seeing what had happened to his heart and body, it felt as though all her fears were justified. The worst parts of Priyanka wanted to grab Connie by the shoulders and shake her, to tell her that this was what she had been worried about, that she wasn’t going to let this happen to her own child, that this is dangerous, can’t you see, this will kill you.

Connie stood up and her mother did as well. The girl stepped forward and hugged the doctor tightly. Priyanka felt her shaking softly, and she knew there would be tearstains on her jacket. There would be stains, and there would be stories. Connie sniffled once. Priyanka let her arms fall around her daughter.

She was just a girl. In the future, the woman could imagine Connie marrying Steven and raising their family, once everything was settled, once the Gems were back and everyone was where they were supposed to be. School would be over and Connie could work on her own future, her career and her goals. All the things she had been through would strengthen her in womanhood.

For right now, Priyanka Maheswaran held onto her daughter, letting the teenager stifle her tears in her mother’s arms. There were going to be stories on the long drive back home. When they were alone, they could talk to one another.

“T-thank you, mom.”

“I love you, Connie.”

They had to go back to that room eventually. Steven had been so broken, but out of anyone who could help, Greg was the one Connie had called first. She hadn’t called the Gems, or anyone from Little Homeworld. The boy’s father knew how to help here. He was human, and this was a human problem, Gem chemicals or not.

Priyanka stared out into the tiled hallway of the hospital, past the rows of other cubicles. There were the sounds of other doctors filling the time by filling their notes, sending emails, taking care of business. They had no idea that in the other room, there was a man talking to calm down his fifty-foot son, a half-human creature who was in love with a doctor’s daughter. They had no idea the amount of love tethered between that exam room and this space, between parent and child, between two children scared for the future.

Connie pulled away when she was done. She hadn’t been sobbing or heaving her breath, although she was shaking slightly as she held onto her mother. Priyanka felt her heart beat with concern. It could be possible that Connie was repressing this all too. But they had made a deal, years ago, to be honest with one another. Priyanka could only hope her daughter was controlling her own emotions for her own sake.

She couldn’t possibly know for sure, though. It took a different kind of bond to break through it. The woman thought about group therapy, where she could sit with her daughter, and for once, she wouldn’t be the powerful adult in the room. Giving that up took just about all the strength that Priyanka had in her, but it would be worth it.

But Connie shook her head. Priyanka resister the urge to crouch and look her daughter in the face. Instead, she sat down, and Connie held onto her hands. The two shared a moment of silence together. Tears were welling up in Connie’s eyes. 

“I used to feel like I was a sidekick in my own life,” the girl said, “and for so long things just happened to me. I wasn’t in control. I started sword fighting, I fused with Steven, and all of the sudden I got to feel like some kind of leader, like I was ready to be my own person. But all that happens now is — is that the moments when I’m out of control are so much worse. I feel like I don’t know what to do or how to help.”

Priyanka took a deep breath.

“Connie, you need to know that that’s part of being a teenager and part of growing up. When you’re a young child, you rely on other people for so much, but you develop independence in things like eating, dressing, learning. When you get older, right about now, you should start to feel more independent in more things. But that doesn’t mean you won’t need help. Human beings are social. We’re here to help each other. And you’re at an age where it’s natural to not want help. Some people have...a hard time asking for help.”

Like Steven. It always came back to that boy. Even when he was clearly crying out in pain, growing and shrinking, nearly naked on the exam room floor, he had to have Connie call in outside help. For the boy, it wasn’t just because he was a teenager. The expectations placed on him as an ambassador, as a new species, must have been incredible.

The physical expectations were equally as jarring. Priyanka could never tell Steven or Greg what she had first thought when she had seen Steven’s skeleton. Medical school had prepared them with x-rays from people who were in car accidents, who had been severely beaten, who had self-inflicted gunshot wounds to all different parts of their body. Steven looked like his skeleton had been through all that and more.

It made her wonder what fractures were happening in Connie’s body. Sometime, she knew she had to take the girl in and have her pediatrician examine her as well. Priyanka could cover up anything she needed to with various stories about Connie’s activities with space camp and learning swordsmanship. That was the easy part.

Connie nodded as she listened to her mother talk. The girl let go of one hand at a time to wipe her eyes, but returned them back down to the woman’s palms in turn. The doctor could feel the coolness of her tears.

“Is Steven going to be okay?” Connie asked. “What can I do to help him?”

“Connie, you’ve helped so much already! You were the one that brought him in because you knew something was wrong. You’re the one who called Greg.”

“But I don’t know how to get him to talk to me. To me! I was there when so many bad things happened to him, and he can’t even be around me right now.”

“Connie, what...happened when he proposed? How did he react?”

“Well, he seemed...to understand. He was disappointed, and surprised, but then we hugged and he said he was going to be okay. Then I didn’t hear from him again until I called him during a study break and saw the swelling.”

Well, he was lying. Dr. Maheswaran held her tongue. She didn’t have to say a word, though. Connie was a smart girl. Even while she spoke, she knew what had actually happened.

“He wasn’t okay at all,” Connie said quietly. 

“I need you to know, you did the right thing.”

“But I hurt him!”

“You would have hurt him more if you had said yes. What would he have done if he found out you didn’t tell him the truth? How would he have reacted if he found out you didn’t want to marry him?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to. I-I said that I wasn’t ready. I told him we could already spend our lives together — I mean, I didn’t, I didn’t promise anything, I don’t know. I don’t know!”

Priyanka let the silence settle between them. A single tear rolled down Connie’s cheek, and her mother reached up to wipe it away. This time it was hot, fresh from the duct, on Connie’s flushed cheek.

“He wanted to be Stevonnie. I don’t want to be Stevonnie forever. I love — having Steven as a friend, and as someone close. I don’t want to lose that.”

“You’re not going to lose that anytime soon. You’re the closest human being in his life besides Greg. Don’t you remember, when we all first got together? You two were going to run away together and… Gosh, what was it? Live on some kind of farm?”

That got a giggle out of the girl. Priyanka smiled and let Connie go. The teenager wiped her face, pushing her cheeks clean. That had been the first time that Priyanka and Doug had had an inkling of what they were dealing with. The Gems were strange beings to be sure, and they certainly weren’t human, but they were adults all the same. Steven was going to grow up in their image.

Now that she thought about it, the doctor had silent doubts as to how beneficial that was. Steven would never have had the injuries he had without going on missions with the Gems. And it was clear that his human communication skills were limited, no doubt in part to being isolated from places like schools and extracurricular activities. Steven wasn’t a normal boy, and he wasn’t going to be a normal man, but that didn’t mean he had to have been this maladjusted. No, Priyanka was thinking of this all wrong. 

They had to be proactive. They had to ensure that no further psychological damage would be done. Already in her head she had the number of the mental health hotline memorized, as well as the hospital’s resources for psychology and psychotherapy. Greg would have to come to those sessions to ensure that nothing happened. Connie might have to come along as well. Priyanka knew she would have to be the boy’s PCP, as nobody else could handle this like she could. She took some pride in that, if only for a moment.

But there were so many triggers, so many potential things that could happen. They had to act. And they had to be calm. Steven had his father, and Priyanka had to ensure that Connie had her as well. The woman reached up and brushed Connie’s hair out of her eyes, to get her attention. The girl looked at her mother, surprised at the sudden tender gesture. More often than not, Priyanka knew she wasn’t the touchy-feely-est mother. These were exceptional times.

“Connie, Steven needs our help,”

“I know, mom. I know that —”

“I’m not finished. Steven needs our help, but it’s not just up to us. And it’s especially not up to just you. Steven needs a network, a support system, and he needs the tools to reach out. Clearly, he’s not ready for that.”

It stung, but it was true. Connie sighed and her shoulders heaved. Priyanka looked over her daughter’s body with that kind of dread that only parents could get. There was no amount of strength training to prepare someone for the weight of the world on their shoulders. 

“So I want you to promise me that you’ll come to us when you need help, too,” the woman said. “It would make me better knowing that you’re not going to take this all on yourself. You’re still a teenager, and it’s not your responsibility to bear all of Steven’s weight. We’re all going to be here to help him.”

Priyanka didn’t want to make that promise herself, but she could do it professionally. She could take Steven under her wing as a patient, conflict of interest aside. It didn’t matter when she was the only one who could handle this. She could get him into the network. With Greg’s help emotionally and financially, they could get Steven insured and documented. Hopefully, they could get him the help he needed. 

And to what end? The doctor tried not to react as she thought about the end of all of this. Making Steven a man possibly meant that she was preparing him to propose to Connie for real, and that the girl would be ready as a woman, and all this friendship would turn into something more. That thought made Priyanka almost shiver. She wasn’t opposed, but she was opposed to time happening so quickly. To think this all started because her girl liked to read books.

“I promise I won’t do this all on my own, mom,” Connie said. “I’m going to be here for Steven but I promise to take care of myself.”

“Thank you.”

The two embraced once more, softly this time, with the woman sitting down and the girl leaning her body over. Maybe one day she would be taller than her mother. Maybe one day she would fit into Priyanka’s old, ornate wedding dress. The two Maheswarans separated.

“Let’s check damage control for the room,” Connie said.

“Yes, I’ll have to tell the janitors that… Well, I’m not sure what I’ll tell them.”

“Just tell them the truth!”

“That a boy grew to a monstrous size and broke the light fixture and some infrastructure with his head? I think I’ll just tell them that a patient did it and leave it at that.”

She couldn’t blame Steven. Nobody could blame Steven but himself, and they needed to wean him off of this. Priyanka stood with her daughter as they exited the cubicle and got ready to head down the hallway. 

That was all they could do: tell the truth. There was the truth of Connie’s devotion to her friend and the possibility that she was willing to extend her limits to help him, and that her mother had to rein her in so she didn’t overexert herself. There was the truth that Steven had severe trauma with dozens of reference points, and he had had nobody to work through them with yet. There was the truth that he was unlike anything that the world had ever seen. Priyanka Maheswaran put her hand around her daughter’s shoulder. The truth was that her daughter was like that, too. The truth was that she couldn’t be prouder.


End file.
